Latest news with #BigMamma
The Guardian
20-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Barbarella, London E14: ‘A large scoop of Lady Gaga does House of Gucci' – restaurant review
The Big Mamma group's gargantuan, flamboyant, frothily decorated pleasure palaces, which have grown rapidly across London – from Gloria in Shoreditch to Circolo Popolare in Fitzrovia and from Avo Mario in Covent Garden to Jacuzzi in Marylebone, among others – not to mention across Europe in general, tend to cause earnest food sorts to sigh wearily. If the lofty scofferati could have found a way to scupper Big Mamma's growth, they probably would have, because these restaurants are unashamedly focused on big, sexy, silly and Italian-inspired fun. The dining rooms are styled with the chaotic yet elegant detail of a big-budget movie set; no two are remotely the same, but each branch is connected by dependably over-the-top Italian serving staff, usually male and every one of them determined to be your best friend all the way from the antipasti to the dolci, even if your stiff British mentality fights their displays of chumminess. The latest Big Mamma opening, Barbarella in Canary Wharf, east London, is no different, and features all of those elements with which we've become so familiar: the tall, wobbly lemon meringue pie, the camp banquettes, the huge flappy menu with 100-plus items all written in Italian and in a teensy-tiny red font. At Barbarella, there are also oversized sculptures, vintage Fiorucci in glass display cases and, vibe-wise, a large scoop of Gaga does House of Gucci. Why are clever food people so sniffy about Big Mamma, despite its restaurants being full to the brim every night? Well, there are two reasons: first, Barbarella and her sisters are determinedly fun; almost forced fun, if we're completely honest. Just try telling your server that you're not here to have a laugh, but instead have come for a sparse, sensible, calorie-counting meal, so there's no need for a double martini or to be spooned tiramisu from a huge bowl by a winking man from Sicily called Gianluca. They just won't understand you. The second, and possibly more logical reason for the raised eyebrows is because – let's cut to the chase – the food in all of these restaurants isn't always terribly good and is sometimes actively awful. Not that you'll ever cajole any of the staff into admitting that: 'This tiramisu is my favourite tiramisu in the world, even better than my own nonna's,' is just one line directed at me at Barbarella. The staff simply cannot break character, so all the pasta is, according to them at least, 'freshly made this hour' and 'better than they serve in the village I come from in Italy'. Every T-bone steak is the juiciest and every brunello on the extensive wine-list is the most thoughtfully sourced. You've more chance of seeing Mickey Mouse at the front of a Disney parade with his headpiece off and smoking a Marlboro than hear a Barbarella server admit that this food is just OK – and hugely overpriced, too. Not that you'd really want that, either. Barbarella, like all of these places, is about escapism, boisterous group dining and being swept up in the moment, with someone else – a lover, a boss, a father-in-law – hopefully picking up the hefty bill afterwards. Lunching here stone-cold sober is a real eye-opener. I've only ever been to a Big Mamma restaurant while a bit tipsy, but here I'm being served a £24 plate of 'millefoglie di patate con tartare di manzo e tartufo', or a sort of cold fried potato rösti with a spoon of unseasoned beef tartare that's not remotely delicious. A courgette and cheese insalata limps on to my table hoping for love, but it's another hopeless state of affairs. This is not good courgette, these are not pleasant croutons. Next up, lobster linguine for £36 in a thick, one-note bisque sauce and with half a lobster on top – fine, but nothing earth-shattering. A £38 fillet steak with green peppercorn sauce is by some distance the most delicious thing we eat, and comes with a side of actually great rosemary potatoes. Then again, it's also probably the least Italian thing on the menu. But the tiramisu is, as ever, rich, thick, cocoa-covered and comes with that timeworn trick of offering a second scoop to denote largesse. Upstairs is the place to sit, it being the room with all the movie-star glamour; downstairs is, dare I say, a little less exciting. But, from my seat by the till (not somewhere I wanted to linger) and having to move plates about to make them fit on a tiny table that's about as big as one of the pizzas, there's just something about Barbarella that left me a little cold. Perhaps glamour isn't supposed to be practical. The wild Italian party continues in Canary Wharf regardless, but I don't think I'll be running back for a scoop of gelato any time soon. Barbarella Unit 3, YY London, 30 South Colonnade, London E14 (no phone). Open all week, noon-midnight. From about £40 a head à la carte, plus drinks and service. The next episode of Grace's Comfort Eating podcast is out on Tuesday 15 July – listen to it here.
The Guardian
20-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Barbarella, London E14: ‘A large scoop of Lady Gaga does House of Gucci' – restaurant review
The Big Mamma group's gargantuan, flamboyant, frothily decorated pleasure palaces, which have grown rapidly across London – from Gloria in Shoreditch to Circolo Popolare in Fitzrovia and from Avo Mario in Covent Garden to Jacuzzi in Marylebone, among others – not to mention across Europe in general, tend to cause earnest food sorts to sigh wearily. If the lofty scofferati could have found a way to scupper Big Mamma's growth, they probably would have, because these restaurants are unashamedly focused on big, sexy, silly and Italian-inspired fun. The dining rooms are styled with the chaotic yet elegant detail of a big-budget movie set; no two are remotely the same, but each branch is connected by dependably over-the-top Italian serving staff, usually male and every one of them determined to be your best friend all the way from the antipasti to the dolci, even if your stiff British mentality fights their displays of chumminess. The latest Big Mamma opening, Barbarella in Canary Wharf, east London, is no different, and features all of those elements with which we've become so familiar: the tall, wobbly lemon meringue pie, the camp banquettes, the huge flappy menu with 100-plus items all written in Italian and in a teensy-tiny red font. At Barbarella, there are also oversized sculptures, vintage Fiorucci in glass display cases and, vibe-wise, a large scoop of Gaga does House of Gucci. Why are clever food people so sniffy about Big Mamma, despite its restaurants being full to the brim every night? Well, there are two reasons: first, Barbarella and her sisters are determinedly fun; almost forced fun, if we're completely honest. Just try telling your server that you're not here to have a laugh, but instead have come for a sparse, sensible, calorie-counting meal, so there's no need for a double martini or to be spooned tiramisu from a huge bowl by a winking man from Sicily called Gianluca. They just won't understand you. The second, and possibly more logical reason for the raised eyebrows is because – let's cut to the chase – the food in all of these restaurants isn't always terribly good and is sometimes actively awful. Not that you'll ever cajole any of the staff into admitting that: 'This tiramisu is my favourite tiramisu in the world, even better than my own nonna's,' is just one line directed at me at Barbarella. The staff simply cannot break character, so all the pasta is, according to them at least, 'freshly made this hour' and 'better than they serve in the village I come from in Italy'. Every T-bone steak is the juiciest and every brunello on the extensive wine-list is the most thoughtfully sourced. You've more chance of seeing Mickey Mouse at the front of a Disney parade with his headpiece off and smoking a Marlboro than hear a Barbarella server admit that this food is just OK – and hugely overpriced, too. Not that you'd really want that, either. Barbarella, like all of these places, is about escapism, boisterous group dining and being swept up in the moment, with someone else – a lover, a boss, a father-in-law – hopefully picking up the hefty bill afterwards. Lunching here stone-cold sober is a real eye-opener. I've only ever been to a Big Mamma restaurant while a bit tipsy, but here I'm being served a £24 plate of 'millefoglie di patate con tartare di manzo e tartufo', or a sort of cold fried potato rösti with a spoon of unseasoned beef tartare that's not remotely delicious. A courgette and cheese insalata limps on to my table hoping for love, but it's another hopeless state of affairs. This is not good courgette, these are not pleasant croutons. Next up, lobster linguine for £36 in a thick, one-note bisque sauce and with half a lobster on top – fine, but nothing earth-shattering. A £38 fillet steak with green peppercorn sauce is by some distance the most delicious thing we eat, and comes with a side of actually great rosemary potatoes. Then again, it's also probably the least Italian thing on the menu. But the tiramisu is, as ever, rich, thick, cocoa-covered and comes with that timeworn trick of offering a second scoop to denote largesse. Upstairs is the place to sit, it being the room with all the movie-star glamour; downstairs is, dare I say, a little less exciting. But, from my seat by the till (not somewhere I wanted to linger) and having to move plates about to make them fit on a tiny table that's about as big as one of the pizzas, there's just something about Barbarella that left me a little cold. Perhaps glamour isn't supposed to be practical. The wild Italian party continues in Canary Wharf regardless, but I don't think I'll be running back for a scoop of gelato any time soon. Barbarella Unit 3, YY London, 30 South Colonnade, London E14 (no phone). Open all week, noon-midnight. From about £40 a head à la carte, plus drinks and service. The next episode of Grace's Comfort Eating podcast is out on Tuesday 15 July – listen to it here.
Time Out
30-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Time Out
The showy-offy spaghettone al tartufo is made up of metre long strands of pasta
The foodie equivalent of a blockbuster franchise that becomes increasingly ludicrous with each new movie, the Big Mamma Group is back with a sixth London restaurant, this time set among the shiny skyscrapers of Canary Wharf. Barbarella takes its name from the high-camp sci-fi flick of 1968, a film known more for the appearance of a pert Jane Fonda in silver bodysuit than anything resembling a cohesive plot. It's fitting, as this Barbarella isn't really about the food, but the sheer spectacle. Every detail is made for your phone camera; from the gleaming leopard-print tables (somehow… lit from within?) and mega palm trees, to the zebra skins on the wall (ethics be damned!) and a giant glass chandelier (imported from Venice, of course) dangling imposingly over the central bar. Food is of the non-specific Italian variety, and there's plenty of it. The massive menu comprises lots of pizza, loads of pasta, and various permutations of meat and cheese. Some dishes are named as they would be in Italy, the 'paccheri alla norma' pasta for example, or 'tagliata di manzo' beef fillet. Others have punny names that sound like someone's dad has snuck into the development meeting; the 'Looking For Truffle' pizza or 'Sundae Mood' ice cream. There's also a pizza named after Versace, for some reason. Barbarella is not about authenticity, it's about having fun, and still isn't sure if it wants to banter you relentlessly, or woo you at dusk in the Piazza San Marco. Our starter of smoky stracciatella is as good as a bowl of creamy burrata-innards can be, served with slender focaccia Romana for dipping and dredging purposes. As with most Big Mamma joints, there's a stunt pasta on the menu. Barbarella's is a showy-offy spaghettone al tartufo, which is £24 a head and made up of metre long strands of pasta - like tapeworm, but sexy. Served tableside to show off the epic length, it might be a little too al dente for this larger, XXL super-toothsome version of spaghetti, but the sauce is good; flecked with fresh black truffle and honking with fluffy Parmigiano Reggiano foam. We follow it with a salty saltimbocca alla Romana, pan-fried veal escalopes topped with prosciutto toscano and sage, that's as rich as the city boy clientele that surround us. At Barbarella, the food isn't quite an afterthought – some of it is very good, some of it kind of ok, and some of it best not mentioned – but you're not here for world-class pasta, you're here to be entertained, and Barbarella certainly does that. The vibe A classic of the Big Mamma genre; an ultra-camp 1970s playboy pad. The food Italian of all persuasions, including pasta and Napolitana-style pizza.
Telegraph
02-06-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
The French duo selling Italian food to the British (and smashing it)
The restaurant is packed, full of noise, laughter and loud chatter. Italian voices punctuate the air as diners dive into big bowls of pasta, pizzas and tables loaded with antipasti. I could be in Rome, Naples, Milan or any Italian city. Except I'm not. I'm in Paris – at one of Big Mamma's 29 restaurants that span seven countries. While it may ooze all things Italian, Big Mamma is actually the brainchild of two Frenchmen and started its life in Paris. Since its first trattoria, East Mamma, opened in the 11th arrondissement in 2015, the restaurant group has gone on to expand across Europe, including to the UK, where its five London restaurants attract lengthy queues and get rave reviews. At the end of 2024 it added La Bellezza in Birmingham to the list (its first British location outside the capital) and on June 6 Circolo Popolare will launch in Manchester – both delivering the brand's trademark wow-factor interiors (evoking a Sardinian festa, complete with twinkling festoon lights, in the case of the Deansgate venue) and Willy Wonka-esque dishes such as carbonara or creamy truffle pasta served in giant cheese wheels, and towering slabs of lemon meringue pie. On paper, it's hard to follow the logic. An Italian brand, conceived in Paris, using ingredients from Italy, and somehow garnering success everywhere from Munich to Monaco. Against a backdrop of what is undoubtedly a torrid time for hospitality, with big-name UK restaurant closures being announced almost every month (notably TV chef Gary Usher's Burnt Truffle in January, and Tom Kerridge 's Chelsea-based Butcher's Tap & Grill in May). So what is Big Mamma's secret? There's the age-old ethos that quality ingredients are key. Then there's the recent trend of creating restaurant interiors to impress those of us who post on Instagram before their first mouthful. But for Big Mamma's co-founder Tigrane Seydoux, the main thing is ensuring the price is right. That doesn't necessarily mean rolling out the same-priced dish in every location (unlike big chains, prices can vary between Big Mamma venues), but rather for customers to feel that, whatever the price point, they've enjoyed food at the top end of the scale for what they're paying – with the bonus of devouring it in a gorgeous space with authentic Italian service. 'It's quite difficult to identify Big Mamma in the [traditional framework] of the restaurant landscape,' Seydoux tells me. 'We're not a chain; we don't think about taking a recipe that has worked for one site and just copy-pasting that to other locations.' Instead, he says, they take a bespoke approach at each site – from the design and menu to the price point. 'Affordable,' Seydoux explains, has a different meaning for different clientele. 'We run restaurants with a 25-euro average spend up to a 90-euro average spend. We might not have the best product that exists on the market,' he admits, 'but at the price we are doing it, it is the best, and I think people value that a lot.' Seydoux stresses that he didn't set out with his co-founder, Victor Lugger, to 'revolutionise the restaurant industry'. Instead, he argues, 'what you're seeing is pretty much what any restaurant should be – offering something good on the plate, somewhere you are welcomed in the right way,' and for the right price. While each restaurant may feel unique, Seydoux admits they share a 'common DNA and common culture' – something he sums up as a 'happy mess', in which 'there is imperfection, but that gives soul and authenticity to a place'. Even the former Sunday Times restaurant critic, Marina O'Loughlin, while classing the food 'a bit crap' on her visit in 2019, hailed London's Circo Popolare as 'the restaurant where you will have the time of your life.' Seydoux and Lugger, who graduated from business school in Paris together (Seydoux to work for a luxury hotel brand, Lugger in the music industry), drew upon their shared passion for Italian cuisine when founding Big Mamma, but they weren't ignorant to its popularity and potential in the French market – nor to the power of social media. In their Paris restaurants I take in everything – from flower-adorned entrances to Rod Stewart-inspired toilets, while at Carlotta in London a statue of the Virgin Mary in boxing gloves watches over the bathroom wash basins. In Birmingham, La Bellezza boasts seven-metre-long tapestry curtains and handmade Murano glass chandeliers for its Perugia-inspired setting. Customers will get to dine in jasmine-draped courtyards in Manchester. This is 'doing it for the 'gram', and then some. Then there's the staffing. It's not my imagination that I can hear Italian accents; 80 per cent of Big Mamma's staff are recruited directly from Italy, as it's the founders' belief that the 'Italianity' they want to peddle must be delivered by Italian people. And we Britons – as well as the French – are lapping it up. The company's turnover was over £44m in 2024. When private equity firm McWin took on a majority stake in 2023, the deal valued the business at £233m (even though Lugger admitted that interest from investors ahead of the purchase 'was less' than he had expected). Big Mamma's combination of 'brash, eye-catching decor and theatrical food presentation is highly appealing to the Instagram-driven millennial generation, encouraging social media sharing and viral marketing,' says Zoe Adjey, senior lecturer in hospitality and events management at the University of East London's Institute of Hospitality and Tourism. On top of this, their dishes come with 'an added element of theatre in the service' (cue silken pasta strands being tossed in that truckle of pecorino). By expanding into six European countries outside of the UK, the company has diversified its market and reduced its exposure to challenges faced by UK hospitality, Adjey believes. Isabelle Shepherd, partner at accountancy firm HaysMac, attributes Big Mamma's success to a combination of elements, including the novelty factor of some of its dishes. 'Generally people these days want more than a typical casual dining concept, and they provide that.' Add to that the use of social media to record those experiences and you've got the perfect marketing tool for a generation that looks to Instagram and TikTok for inspiration about where to eat out. The same platforms can, of course, quickly turn sour, as Big Mamma discovered in 2024 when the group was criticised by disgruntled diners for applying a 'checkout fee' on its optional payment app, Sunday, on top of a service charge – a fee that still remains when paying via the app, though bills can be paid by card or cash without incurring a fee). Seydoux admits it isn't easy when your business is growing exponentially. Certain aspects of growth work in their favour, such as when sourcing direct from Italy, with volume helping them to work with smaller suppliers. But when growth starts to impact Big Mamma's ability to do what it does best, he acknowledges that could be the sign to slow down. Somehow, as another carbonara is captured by a sea of smartphone cameras, that doesn't seem likely any time soon…
Time Out
02-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Time Out
The 10 best new London restaurant openings in June 2025
News Smashburgers, celeb-run restos, canal-side bistros and the return of Big Mamma feature in Time Out's best restaurants opening in the capital this month Another month comes with another bunch of plucky cooks risking it all to launch themselves upon London's hungry masses. When it comes to new chain-y stuff, Lina Stores continues its eau de nil-shaded takeover via the medium of al-dente pasta with a Canary Wharf branch, while Harry's opens its fourth Italian restaurant in King's Cross. Meanwhile, Fortnum & Mason Royal Exchange will be home to a summer residency by seafood zaddy Rick Stein. Here's the best of the rest. The 10 best new London restaurants opening in June 2025 1. The one with a famous person Lupa, Highbury Depending on your level of addiction to Deux Moi, the most compelling thing about this north London-based Roman-style trattoria isn't the supplì al telefono croquettes, but the fact that White Lotus alumni Theo James is part of the team. The dishy actor has joined forces with restauranter and Carousel co-founder Ed Templeton to open Lupa, and ex-Pidgin head chef Naz Hassan will be in charge of the kitchen. Expect carbonara, puntarelle, and a steady influx of flustered local mums. Lupa opens late June. 3 Highbury Park, N5 1UA 2. The Euro burger place Dumbo, Shoreditch French smashburger titans Dumbo are opening their first London location in mid-June. Their first joint outside of Paris, the powerfully brief menu sees them serving up cheeseburgers, veggie burgers, fries (French, of course) and chicken nuggets. And that's basically it. 119 Bethnal Green Road, E2 7DG 3. A telly chef branches out Gina, Chingford You might have been following pastry chef, author and Junior Bake Off presenter Ravneet Gill's journey to opening her new restaurant on Instagram (and Substack) in which she and chef husband Mattie Taiano go into furious detail about 'launching our first restaurant in the worst year for restaurants ever'. Intense! The family-run chophouse opens on June 11. 92 Station Road, Chingford, E4 7BA 4. The trendy one by the water Canal, Westbourne Park With perfect summer timing comes the June 30 opening of Canal. With a prime position next to the Grand Union Canal, it comes from the same sturdy stable as Crispin and Bistro Freddie. New York chef Adrian Hernandez Farina is helming a very 2025 menu of bistro bangers, from polenta flatbreads to seabream crudo with burnt blood orange and ricotta agnolotti with cavolo nero and pecorino. But the slickest thing about Canal? Nicholas Daley has designed the staff uniforms – including a kilt. 11B Woodfield Road, Westbourne Park, W9 2BA 5. The new Big Mamma one Barbarella, Canary Wharf It's been a while since Big Mamma launched one of their outre trattorias in London, but Barbarella is making up for lost time, with a massive mirrored glass bar, 1970s-style chrome lounge area, and walls draped with silk. A pervy kind of paradise, by the sounds of things. Food is set to be equally over-the-top; caramelised tomato tatin with Parmigiano cream, a mega 1.2kg T-bone steak, and a one-metre long spaghettone. Barbarella opens June 20. YY Building, 30 South Colonnade, Canary Wharf, E14 5HX 6. The fabulous fish one Noisy Oyster, Shoreditch A fishy new spot from Madina Kazhimova and Anna Dolgushina from Soho's Firebird, Noisy Oyster is all about seafood classics from Italy, Spain, Portugal, and France but made with local, UK catches. The menu is inventive, verging on the pleasantly unhinged; oysters come with a smoked tomato water and horseradish mignonette, while scallops are dressed with pickled raspberry, chilli and basil oil, There's also a confit tuna nicoişe, pressed skate schnitzel with mixed peach panzanella, and crab, bisque and fennel orecchiette. Mini martinis are the move when it comes to drinks. Noisy Oyster opens June 20. 2 Nicholls Clarke Yard, Shoreditch, E1 6SH 7. The new Chilean hotspot Mareida, Fitzrovia Chilean cuisine isn't overly represented in London, which makes the opening of Mareida all the more intriguing. The Chilean team includes head chef Trinidad Vial Della Maggiora and Carolina Bazán, who was voted Latin America's Best Female Chef in 2019 by the World's 50 Best. Expect very good things. 160 Great Portland Street, W1W 5QA 8. An all-day Vietnamese canteen Lai Rai, Peckham Bringing all-day bánh mì to the masses, Lai Rai is a 'new school' Vietnamese coffee spot by day and a snack shop and beer house by night. Come for fried prawn on sugarcane stalks with peanut and nước chấm satay sauce, papaya jellyfish salad with pineapple, and twice-cooked crispy chicken. 181 Rye Lane, Peckham, SE15 4TP 9. The spruced up pub William The Fourth, Leyton Exale, one of our favourite breweries in London, is behind this revamped grand Victorian boozer. Reopening on June 12, it'll come with the arrival of Short Road Pizza – also in residence at Exale's Bethnal Green pub Three Colts – a Romana thin crust style pie with American-leaning toppings, and, yes, plenty of hot honey. Expect pints and cocktails as well as DJs, big games on the telly, quiz nights, and karaoke. 816 High Rd, Leyton, E10 6AE 10. Surf and also turf Island, King's Cross Big chef lads Brad Carter and Tom Brown are coming together to launch a new restaurant takeover at the King's Cross outpost of Mare Street Market. Island – which you'll find in the venue's Chandelier Room – is tribute to surf and turf, with the duo pushing a coastal-take on the classic American steakhouse. Expect caviar crisps, pickled cockles, oyster caesar salad, trout pastrami and quail stuffed with prawn paella on the fishy side of things, as well as a mighty mixed grill.
